A Short History of Cowboy Boots

Cowboys herding cattle across U.S. territories after the American Civil War recognized they needed boots that were distinct from common boot fashions of their times. Neither war, buggy or field- style boots served well during long hours as riders navigated brambles and brush, creeks and rivers months.

Around 1870, or thereabouts, a lone cowboy inquired if riders could be given a pointy toe so he could slip his foot into a stirrup fast and took his war boots to a shoemaker. He also wanted a taller shaft that a larger, underslung treat when riding hard on the trail to keep his heel, and would protect his legs.

A knee-high design was cobbled together by the shoemaker, to shield its wearer’s legs from barbed wire, thorny mesquite trees, snakes, and other dangers. Long mule-eared straps were subsequently attached for pulling the boots on.

The tough leather of conventional “working cowboy” boots protected a rider’s ankles from otherwise-bruising wooden stirrups, and from the rubbing of legs against stirrup leather. Cowboy boots were stitched on the outside to prevent the leather from rubbing and buckling against a cowboy’s leg.

Under-slung heel of cowboy boots the trademark, serves to protect the cowboy, enabling him to dig his heels into the earth directing a horse in dangerous terrain or when grounding a calf. Additionally, it keeps the boot properly positioned in the stirrup, alleviating an ever present danger that existed for thousands of years before cowboy boots were born: the very real chance of being pulled to death by a spooked horse should a rider fall from his mount with a foot and boot caught on the wrong side of a stirrup!

The first pairs were for working purposes only. There was no “style.” Cowboy boots were viewed just as an advancement on a vital tool, designed to keep cowboys safe and as comfortable as possible during long, difficult months in sunlight and rain.

The ground-breaking new “no-style” design fast became part of a cowboy’s tool kit, as essential to him as his lasso, his rifle, his branding iron, his neckerchief, and his dollar knife.

Initially a cobbler who would measure a cowboy’s feet and make a pair of boots to fit cowboy boots individually made they. Mail order boot companies came years later.

Over time, cowboy boots became an important fashion statement as the standard brown or black stitching on the outside of the boot segued to more colorful stitching. Layouts and pictures began to be sewn into the boots and boot makers started experimenting with inlays and overlays. Across America, adroit boot designs appeared within a decade and began to intrigue the world. The designers recognized the better, if a cowboy boot could be made truly amazing!

Cowboy boots have been since the 1880’s on the mail order marketplace. In the early 1900’s, with railroads running faithfully between shores, and silent motion pictures spotlighting cowboys, cowboy boots’ popularity, manufacture and supply mushroomed.

Finding the Right Fit

When it comes to Cowboy Boots, they don’t merely come in regular old leather anymore. At this time, you can purchase a number of skins and styles according to where you live and what style you’re going for. These boots, they cowboy will last for a long time, can occasionally get expensive, so its important that you just take care of them – something you might not be used to with regular shoes. But for genuine and luxurious materials like leather, you’re definitely going to need and would like to take care and maintain the stuff so that cowboy keep fitting the manner you like them to and such that it continues quite a while. When leather gets wet it tends to either get extremely soggy or it gets really tight. So, make sure to follow together with the suggestions below to get value and the best worth out of your Cowboy Boots.

Ostrich Skin

These are available in particular Cowboy Boots stores, while they are not unbelievably popular. The very first thing you have to consider doing will be to remove any dust or dirt from the shoe. You can achieve it by purchasing yourself a boot brush to swipe away the debris carefully. Before you wear the shoe, you might also wish to consider spraying on a leather conditioner or in this case a reptile boot conditioner. Honestly it can be used by you on ostrich skin as well, although it says its for reptile skin. To really keep the boots in good condition make sure that you apply thin coatings of the conditioner to the boots on a regular basis.

Snake Skin

These are less unpopular than Ostrich (believe Crocodile Dundee!). First, like with the Ostrich boots, you should think about removing debris from your shoe before you actually do anything. No sense in conditioning Cowboy Boots which can be filthy because basically all you are doing is locking in the soil. Kind of defeats the intent folks! For real snake skin boots, you might also wipe with the grain using a damp fabric. After you remove the soil and debris, after that you can apply a thin coat of reptile conditioner to the boots using a clean soft cloth ensuring that it used the scales lay.

Cowhide and Buffalo Skin

These, in my opinion, are two of the skins that are most frequently used. The aren’t actually lavish per se, but they are really powerful as could be, they feel good on the boot and look, and they’re more affordable than something like gator, crocodile or snake skin cowboy boots. You are going to specifically use a leather conditioner, not a snake conditioner or anything like this, although usually, the skins are gone for by the exact same cleaning approaches above. Remove and dust with a brush or rag, clean with the leather conditioner, apply some natural shoe cream, then continue until a luster is obtained to brush the cowboy boots.